Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-N.C.) has lost thousands of TikTok followers after he voted in favor of the bill that would effectively ban the app in the U.S. if it was not sold.
What Happened: Last week, after the House of Representatives passed the bill to force the sale of TikTok and Rep. Jackson said yes in favor of it, the Congressman lost about 200,000 followers on the short-form video hosting service, according to social media analytics site Social Blade.
Later on Saturday, Jackson took to TikTok and shared a video acknowledging his mishandling of the situation.
“I apologize. I did not handle this situation well from top to bottom, and that is why I have been completely roasted on this app over the past 48 hours and I completely get it” he said, adding, “If I were in your shoes, I would probably feel the same way. I would see someone who used this app to build a following and then appears to have voted against it, and I would be upset.”
He then recounted participating in certain briefings about the app that he found “genuinely alarming,” pointing out that he believed TikTok would be better off without concerns regarding potential control by an adversarial government.
He voiced his discontent with the prospect of a ban, stating, “The part I didn't like was the part that threatens a ban.”
See Also: TikTok Ban: China Has The Power To Block Sale, Gains Leverage Over Washington
The Congressman currently has more than 2.3 million followers on the platforms.
Users in the comments section of Jackson’s TikTok videos expressed reluctance to accept his apology. One person said that if the government has a reason to justify its actions, it should share it with the public. Another person commented, “I just no longer trust anyone any longer in our Gov. our lives, small business, families should NEVER be in your hands.”
One person also said that his explanatory video on TikTok doesn’t help because it won’t take his vote back.
Why It's Important: Previously, on March 13, the day this bill was passed, Jackson also uploaded a video on X, formerly Twitter, and shared his stance on it, saying, “The best-case scenario for TikTok is that it continues to operate but is no longer owned – and potentially controlled – by an adversarial country.”
In the video, he said, “TikTok may be sold to another company, but it will continue to operate.” He added, “There is a serious concern that the Chinese government can influence what you see on your For You page. They can tweak the algorithm in ways that may be helpful to them and harmful to us.”
If approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden, the current version of the bill would require TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell TikTok within five months or face removal from app stores across all formats, impacting about 150 million U.S. users.
The bill got 352 “yays” in favor of its passage, significantly surpassing the two-thirds majority (290 votes) necessary to advance it to the Senate.
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Read Next: Elon Musk Once Revealed Why He ‘Stopped’ Using TikTok: It’s ‘Probing My Brain’
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